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Voting Closed: September 30, 2004
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this the first reliable voting system on the Internet?
View
All Voting Sheets Online
Prizes and certificates sent out: October 7, 2004
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CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR CLEAR WINNER:
Entry No. 11, "My Burgeoning Waistline" by Tracey Coyle
In this unprecedented writing competition where readers determined the winners,
we were delighted that there was a clear winner: Entry number 11, "My
Burgeoning Waistline", received a total score of 626. Given that only 12
readers/writers cast their votes, and that the score was significantly greater
than the other scores, this was a reliable result and an incredible success for
this entry. While we strongly encouraged writers to cast their votes, it should
be noted that this writer was not among the voters. Passwords allocated to this
writer remain unused, i.e. the score did not include any self-votes.
First place: Entry no. 11, Total score: 626
"My Burgeoning Waistline" by Tracey Coyle, South Frankston, VIC
(Also the top paid-entry, winner of $2,400)
Second place: Entry no. 9, Total score: 385
"Wrong Again?" by Josette Ackad, Bankstown, NSW
Third place: Entry no. 56, Total score: 360
"Dear God" by Suyin Toh, Singapore, Singapore
Top paid-entries:
1. Entry no. 11, Total score: 626
"My Burgeoning Waistline" by Tracey Coyle, South Frankston, VIC ($2,400)
2. Entry no. 53, Total score: 350
"When My Life is Over" by Lani Nielsen, Ipswich, QLD ($1,000)
3. Entry no. 18, Total score: 341
"I Opened the Refrigerator" by Benjamin John Lee, Castle Hill, NSW ($600)
Voter's prize: Bram Keller, Spearwood WA ($1,000)
All voting sheets can be viewed below. Apart
from the top winning entry, other scores were not significantly different,
largely because of the small number of votes received.
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"I was impressed by the fact that the winning entry is witty and well-written...
The fact that the winner's score in your competition was so far ahead of
the rest is a good sign, especially as it was chosen by a group of readers
rather than a single judge. Congratulations on running a successful
competition." - Peter Hanbury
Peter Hanbury won over 50 first prizes in
literary competitions around the world and was often called on to act as a
judge. He taught creative writing and also ran short story and poetry
workshops. We were proud to be able to consult him when needed, and
we immensely appreciated his selfless help in countless ways.
Peter Hanbury died on Monday, 28 July 2008.
Rest in Peace, Peter.
"You have sown the seeds of an original and challenging idea which will benefit
all writers and readers worldwide" - John H. Reid
John H. Reid is the organizer and judge of the
Tom Howard Short Story and Poetry Contests. He is also the author of
the book, "How To Win Writing Contests", and the editor of the Writers’
Resources / Contests category at The Open Directory. John H. Reid can be
contacted via:
http://shortstorycontest.0catch.com/
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Is this the first reliable voting system on the Internet?
The SAY writing competition was organised to test a new, Internet-based system.
We strived to bring solutions to every applicable question in literature such
as "How do I know if my votes counted?", "How do I know if votes were not
tempered with?" and "What if someone submits multiple voting sheets?"
To ensure credible and traceable results, passwords were allocated to books, to
be entered as the "Book code" on the voting sheet. Also, all
voting sheets were made available online (protecting the voter's
identity due to privacy laws, but displaying the user number, which can be
found at the bottom of your confirmation email.)
If you have any suggestions for improvement, or if you have any queries, please
Contact Us.
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Click to enlarge
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This
paperback book contains the 141 entries in
the SAY Writing Competition. It is AU$20 or US$14 including postage
anywhere in the world.
Click here to Buy Now
There are all types of entries that will make you laugh, cry and think. There
are entries for children, teenagers and adults; entries that are conservative
or activist, fiction or non-fiction in the form of short stories, essays and
poems from North America, Australia, Europe, Asia and Africa.
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Farewell! |
The SAY Writing Competition was organised as a pilot study to test a new,
Internet-based system where everything is open and fair, everyone is given a
chance, and decisions are made by the people themselves. We gladly allocated
great resources to this study, and obtained valuable data, observations and
conclusions. If writers had demonstrated a need to utilise the unique features
offered by this contest, we would have gone on supporting them for as long as
they wanted. However, the overwhelming majority of the writers mistook this
competition for a traditional one, submitting their entries and waiting for the
results to be announced.
In the first few months of 2004 alone, we received hundreds of new
entries. (Needless to say, all unpaid entries). Even when we offered to waive
their entry fees in return for their votes, however, only one of them took
up the offer (User no. 437, whose book purchase has since been refunded).
Within the limited time the offer was announced at the site, this represented
less than 1% participation, which clearly showed that going ahead for another
year or two was not going to be any different.
We wish to express our gratitude to all who supported us, especially to
Peter Hanbury, who will be sorely missed. Many thanks to each and
every one of you who did participate, and also to those who did not. It
was valuable data either way. All the best to all of you in the future. May all
your dreams come true!
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